Tim Meek with daughters Amy (front), Ella (back), and wife Kerry. The family completed 100 outdoor activities in one year to avoid becoming too lazy

No one wants to put a draconian ban on their little ones watching the telly.

But if you drag them off into enough forests and caves and along enough rivers it seems you get the same result.

Tim
and Kerry Meek know, because that’s exactly what they did to their two
daughters after becoming concerned they might lose their childhood to
CBeebies.

Rather than allow
the girls time to settle in front of the box, the couple set Amy, ten,
and Ella, eight, 100 outdoor challenges to complete.

A
year on, they have just ticked off the last of them – sleeping in a
‘tentsile’, a sort of cross between a hammock and a tent which is
suspended between two trees.

The youngsters so enjoyed themselves they are now helping to draw up a fresh list of challenges for the next 12 months.

Interestingly, they now only watch about three hours of television a week.

Over
the past year the two sisters have been involved in activities as wide
ranging as making a rope swing, preparing and drinking nettle soup and
watching a meteor shower from a beach-side bivvy.

Others
involved caving, kayaking and hiking – all come rain, shine or snow.
Some of the challenges – which the Meeks estimate cost only £500 to
complete – were undertaken on days out from the family’s home in Arnold,
Nottinghamshire, at weekends; others during trips to Northumberland,
Scotland, Pembrokeshire, and the South West of England.

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Canoeing down a river was just one of the 100 outdoor activities undertaken by the girls and their parents who are both school teachers

The family taking part in a kayak safari. Mr and Mrs Meek didn't want their daughters to spend all their free time watching TV and playing video games

Snorkelling was one of many water activities the family undertook in coastal parts of the country such as Cornwall

Ella, whose favourite task was
‘coasteering’, where rocky coastlines are traversed on foot and by
swimming, in Cornwall, said: ‘Our friends spend a lot of their free time
watching telly or playing on computer games in their bedrooms, luckily
we’ve had the chance to do something different.’

Mr
Meek, 44, a teacher at a special needs school, said: ‘We’re just
normal, everyday people and not adventurous ourselves, but as we saw our
kids growing up, we became more reflective as parents and wanted them
to grow up with balance in their lives.

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‘I
think kids these days spend more time indoors than we did. They may do a
lot of activities, but they don’t necessarily have freedom to express
themselves or explore freely.

‘They are protected from risks which makes them very safe, but it makes them unable to take or to manage risks themselves.

So as to avoid wrapping their daughters up in
cotton wool the parents encouraged them to take part in a variety of
activities they wouldn't normally do

Ella and Amy pictured while damming a river. The family only left the UK once as part of their adventures when they visisted the Eiffel Tower while on a holiday to France

Coasteering was eight-year-old Ella's favourite
activity, while the girls' mother Kerry enjoyed bivvy-bagging under the
stars on a beach

'Of course, we always want Ella and Amy
to do things safely, but in most of the challenges there’s an element of
something could happen, they could graze themselves or trap a finger,
say.

'Now, if they fall over they tend to shrug it off. Our girls have taken on a role as ambassadors for adventure.’

The
girls’ social skills were also tested as one of the challenges was to
stand up in front of their school to give a talk, and support a charity.

Both sisters were in the
Brownies when they were younger, but found it ‘a bit arts and crafty and
wanted something more rough and tumble’.

The family have been invited to speak at a number of outdoor festivals and activities to encourage other families to do similar activities, such as a wild river swim

Climb a winter summit and skiing were among the tasks which the family took in their stride in all weather conditions

All of the 100 adventures cost the family less than £500 put together, including walking to tidal islands (pictured) and kayak safaris

Foraging for food and cooking for Kerry Meek on mother's day using just one pot were other challenges

The family is now planning a list of activities to take on next year, with the hope that other families will be inspired to do the same

Ella is now in the Cubs and Amy in the Scouts. Mrs Taylor, 39, a
primary school teacher, said: ‘It’s just about giving things a go and
trying things out.’

‘My favourite activity was bivvy bagging
[where a waterproof cover is put over a sleeping bag so you can sleep
outdoors without a tent] as we got to sleep under the stars and saw a
meteor shower on a beach on the Norfolk coast.

‘I didn’t like the
idea at all at first but it was incredible. You wouldn’t have witnessed
that in a tent and we saw it together as a family.’

THE 100 OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES THAT TORE THE MEEK GIRLS AWAY FROM TV

The girls pictured sleeping on a pebbly beach during one of their first adventures

1. Slacklining (walking on a rope between two trees)

2. Scooter Safari

3. Caving

4. Spend the night in a hammock

5. Canoe down a river

6. Adventure led by the girls

7. Sleep in a wood

8. Watch rutting deer

9. Learn survival skills

10. Sleep on a beach

11. Forage for a meal

12. Support a cause (Comic Relief)

13. Snorkelling

14. Go for a reptile ramble

15. Find a private beach

16. Climb the Eiffel Tower

17. Kayak Safari

Indoor climbing and abseiling were included on the list of activities

18. Camp in a city

19. Swim in a natural pool

20. Sleep in a cahutte

21. Coasteering

22. Orienteering race

23. Outdoor birthday party

24. Walk on high ropes

25. Make a rope swing

26. Sleep in a Bivvy-Bag

27. See a henge from sunset to sunrise

28. Sleep in a family-size sleeping bag

29. Kayaking

30. Community work

31. Climb and abseil

32. Sailing

33. Walk a peninsula

34. See a puffin

35. Watch wild seals

36. Play conkers

Standing behind a waterfall is yet another task the girls ticked off their list of challenges

37. Go off-road hiking

38. Sleep in a shelter

39. Climb an epic summit

40. Camper-vanning

41. Cook and eat in the wild

42. Wake and run

43. Bivvy by a river

44. Tag team cycle trail

45. Learn a constellation

46. Whittle (carve) while you walk

47. Sub-zero camping

48. Snow walking

49. Floodlit swan feed

Hunting for waterfalls and finding a summit were included in the list

50. Discover local history

51. Find a summit

52. Go without electricity for 24 hours

53. Weaseling (climbing between gaps in rocks)

54. Night-time descent

55. Eat nettle soup

56. Enter a race

57. Explore rock pools

58. Cook on a beach

59. Dam a stream

60. Explore a cave

61. Explore a wreck

62. Find a waterfall

63. Take on the elements

64. Body-boarding

65. Wild river swim

66. Mountain biking

67. Going to the toilet outside

68. Go behind a waterfall

A visit to London was one of the few activities that didn't involve camping